Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-14-2020

Publication Title

Brain Sciences

Volume

10

Issue

10

First page number:

1

Last page number:

15

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the cerebellum (c-tDCS) improves motor performance in young and old adults. Based on the cerebellar involvement in Parkinson’s disease (PD), c-tDCS could have potential to improve motor function in PD. The purpose was to determine the effects of c-tDCS on motor performance in PD while participants were on medications. The study was a randomized, double-blind, SHAM-controlled, between-subjects design. Twenty-two participants with PD were allocated to either a c-tDCS group or a SHAM group. All participants completed one experimental session and performed two motor tasks with their most affected hand in a Baseline condition (no stimulation) and an Experimental condition. The motor tasks were a visuomotor isometric precision grip task (PGT) and a rapid arm movement task (AMT). The primary dependent variables were force error and endpoint error in the PGT and AMT, respectively. There were no significant differences in force error or endpoint error in the Experimental condition between the c-tDCS and SHAM groups. These results indicate that an acute application of c-tDCS does not enhance motor performance in hand and arm tasks in PD. Longer-term c-tDCS application over multiple days may be needed to enhance motor function in PD.

Keywords

Parkinson’s disease; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Motor skill; Cerebellum; Cerebellar stimulation

Disciplines

Cognitive Neuroscience

File Format

pdf

File Size

2.396 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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